


Unwanted Reminders

by ByTheAngell (SomeLittleInfamy)



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Angst, M/M, POV Magnus Bane
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-02
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-10-02 15:32:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17266790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SomeLittleInfamy/pseuds/ByTheAngell
Summary: Magnus didn't realize how many little things would serve as triggers to thinking about his new-found mortality, and it's making enjoying the time he has left difficult.





	Unwanted Reminders

**Author's Note:**

> Someone on twitter posted the (3B Spoiler warning?! But I remember someone saying they were never used so not really spoilery!?) (Find me on [ Malec Opera Outing photos, ](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dv3kMIcUYAAfllF.jpg:large)) and I immediately made it angsty because that's what I do.

Magnus flips through the series of photos taken of him and Alec outside of the Sydney Opera House, trying to find the best one since Alec insists on having one framed for his desk at the Institute. He almost didn’t go at all - without his magic to portal them there it was suddenly an inconvenience, but they had the tickets for months now and Catarina had no problem opening a portal for them. 

At least, that’s what Alec had told him, because Magnus couldn’t even bring himself to ask the favor. In fact, he tried to cancel the entire thing since Alec hadn’t seemed overly enthusiastic about the tickets when he first got them (even though he agreed to go, because he  _ always _ agreed to anything that meant the two of them spent time together). The second Magnus tried to cancel, however, it was as if this was the only thing Alec wanted to do in the entire world and he would simply die if they didn’t go. 

Magnus knows what he’s doing. Alec’s trying to be subtle but he knows how much Magnus was looking forward to this before and he’s doing whatever he can to keep everything as normal as possible. No cancelled plans. No changed habits. He’s ordering takeout and renting movies like Magnus isn’t losing time on his life by the second for the first time in centuries; like he can’t feel the life ebbing out of him with each tick of the hands on the clock spent going about their daily routines together. Magnus is certain that Alec would’ve bought them both plane tickets to Australia if that’s what it came to not to allow Magnus’ lack of magic to interfere with this mini-vacation they had planned. 

So Magnus went. 

He did enjoy himself, and for a little while he managed to forget about everything else. It was just him, and Alec, and a night away from any duties and obligations and  _ reminders _ . For a little while it was the breath of fresh air Magnus didn’t realize he needed so badly. 

But now, looking through the photos, all he sees are reminders that nothing is the way it was when he planned this trip. There are wrinkles on his face that weren’t there before. His hair falls down at the sides weighed down by the height and volume and not quite enough product. The ascot around his neck is only there to cover a scratch one of the strays left when he picked her up the wrong way earlier that day and she lashed out across his chest - a wound he couldn’t heal with magic before they had to leave. The dark circles under his eyes that no amount of makeup will seem to erase entirely, from sleepless nights and early mornings to keep the facade of a normal routine going. 

Does Alec look at this photo and see only the smiles, remember only the music and the scenery and the couple on vacation who laughed as they hit the wrong button on his phone three times before managing to snap a few pictures? Or does he look at it and, like Magnus, remember having to call Catarina early when there was an issue at the Institute and Alec had to come back a day sooner than planned? Or how they never made it to the restaurant they wanted to go to because it took too long to get a taxi, which ended up stuck in traffic. 

He’s printing the photo because Alec wants it, but he suddenly can’t imagine why Alec would want to keep any reminders of him as he is now… reminders of the burdens of a life he never signed up for. 

**Author's Note:**

> (Find me on [Tumblr! ](http://bytheangell.tumblr.com))


End file.
